Buzz

Previous Hackintosh had NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 4GB -3.9 GHz Intel i7-4770K - Windows 7 Pro. I was able to run all Battlefront Combat Mission games (own most all the CM titles) on DELL P2715Q Display - 3840 x 2160 with all the graphics setting set to best and never had any flickering issues. Unfortunately a ⚡️lightning ⚡️ strike killed the Hackintosh. No time to build another yet. 
The new 2018 MacBookPro - macOSMojave - 2.9 GHz Intel Core i9 (6 Cores) - Radeon Pro 560X 4096 MB is able to run able to run all Battlefront Combat Mission games... including the CM Shock Force 2 DEMO... on DELL P2715Q Display - 3840 x 2160 with all the graphics setting set to best with no  flickering issues.
The real fun time treat is playing Battlefront Combat Mission games on the LG OLED55B7A -55”  Thunderbolt 3 to HDMI cable to LG 55" & Yamaha audio system is the best gaming experience I have ever had. Only get to play this way when Ms. Buzz is out of the house because the house shakes when the battle is underway  
Wth the 2018 MacBookPro laptop and the  HUGE OLED 55"  .... no  flickering issues with Battlefront Combat Mission games including the CM Shock Force 2 DEMO👍
👏 Battlefront... Don't know what they are doing inside the engine improvements but whatever it is it is working for me. 
Buzz

You should be fine Michael. If you are up to date on CPU etc. You shouldn't have any issues. 
Take it form a seasoned, Veteran -  CM Mac Man   Ultradave knows his Mac stuff.
Buzz

As much endearment and time I have in CMSF from the start, CMBS - ROCKS ... a lot more. 
CMBS- Demo tesintg is in order…if you are a ’New Modern’ fan. 
As for CMSF vs CMRT… CMRT is a fist full of fun… more than I ever expected and works great on my Mac / Hackintosh!
Buzz

Up and running. My old bookmark no longer work, so I had to do a search and rebookmark this page.
 
For some reason the link on the BFC storefront webpage takes me to an error message, it says "community.battlefront.com Driver Error", the same error when I attempted to use my old bookmark.  Somehow the link on my phone's browser worked seamlessly however.
 
I like the bigger font! Because I am getting old...
 
I hope this means that the new storefront page and repository are coming along nicely!
 
GET SOME BFC!
 
Here is some tactical knowledge of the day. The knifehand.
 

 
 
 
 

About the Scenario
This scenario recreates one of Lt. Otto Carius' engagements made famous in his book 'Tigers in the Mud' on page 166 'The Ambush'.
 
The scenario map size is around 2.9km x 3.4km. Both sides have around a company+. You have around 01hr 40 Minutes (+0-15 minutes variable time). However it’s unlikely, playing against the AI that you’ll need all this time, although playing H2H it might be useful. Playing the ScenarioThis scenario was originally designed to be played first and foremost from the perspective of the German side against the Soviet AI. It is playable head to head (H2H) but has not been playtested for balance in this regard. I suspect it’ll be a tough one for the German player – so if playing H2H let the less experienced player take the Soviets. It is also playable Soviet Vs German AI - given the tactical situation and the game engine limitations of the AI - the German AI struggles with the situation. Still if you want to blow up Hitlerite Bandit Tigers – knock yersel out! AI PlansThere are three distinct Soviet AI plans and one German AI plan – thus allowing some level of re-playability. Those who want the true historical ‘feel’ then play Soviet AI Plan 1. It is the closest to how the Soviets reacted in the actual action. To access AI Plan 1, open this scenario in the editor and ‘switch off’ whatever other Red AI Plans you don’t want to play. It won’t affect FOW unless you take a peek at the other info. About the Action
On the 22nd July 1944 Tigers of 2 Company (under the temporary command of Lt. Carius) from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502  ambushed the spearhead of the Soviet 5th Tank Corps, the tip of 4th Shock Army’s spear, which had just cleanly broken through Army Group North’s defences. What is arguably unique about this action was the initial bold attack made by Carius and Kerscher into the village which was occupied by T34s from 41st Tank Brigade, made destroying a number of them.
 
Subsequent debate focuses on the exact kill tally - claimed by Carius in his book - in and around the village, the subsequent 'ambush' of the remainder of the Soviet tank unit some km east, and the part played by a nearby German Stug battery or batteries. The debate around the facts of this event I'll set aside for now but if you are interested there is a Historical Action PDF contained in the zip file that outlines the facts behind the engagement and subsequent research and opinion.
 
To Play
You can grab it from the repository or the Scenario Depot in a zip file (which contains the scenario game file, historical action PDF with sources and a master tactical map to help orientate yourself).
 
As always I'd appreciate any feedback etc. If you can post any comments etc in this thread that would be hugely appreciated ta!
 
Enjoy!
 
The Battlefield
 
You can find the real world place (Malinova or Malinovka) in Google earth at the kmz file attached below.
 

 
This image shows the view looking west towards the village of Malinova/Malinovka. In Carius' account Kerscher's and Carius' Tigers engaged twenty Soviet tanks (T34s and IS-2s). They quickly destroyed 2 T-34's and one IS-2, (according to Carius' memoirs). Some remaining tanks were destroyed in the village, others were forced out into the field to the southeast of the road (foreground as you see in the above image above). As the attack was taking place, Carius and Kerscher were joined by Nienstedt as well as some assault guns coming from the north. Most Russian tanks were destroyed, but a few did escape. 
 

 
Close up view of part of the village of Malinova/Malinovka.
 

 

 

 

 
Carius and Kerscher charge into the village to engage the waiting Soviet armour.
Carius at Malinava Historical Background.pdf

Pleased to see you had to update your UI one final time 
Clicking the full image displays the detail very well and your update looks great.
Your out of hand rather quickly... complete overhaul will be enjoyed by many upon release.
UI mods are literally 'in your face' all the time ... while you play the game.
Looking at your UI mods makes for a very pleasant experience.
Thanks,
Buzz
 

A few people have asked for them so in the time honoured tradition: if you want them bung me a PM.
 
Note: they are a V1, I haven't really gone to town on them. There may be a V2. There may not.
 
Russkies

 
Ukes

 
Ukes Digital

And a great job you did!

30 years ago I got into modding computer games doing pixel art. We've come so far that nowadays I'm doing pixel art...

They are ready. Since there is no repository yet I have attached the .zip files here - they are only 400K or so each.
 
Here is the key:

 
I have a mod for the US including Ukraine (both red and blue sides) and a separate mode for the Russians.  My eventual plan is to create a Russian tactical symbol set because my preference is to play with the symbols used by the given army.  I do not know how long it will take me to get there but it will be a while.
 
US and Ukrainian icons
CatTacticalIconsCMBSUSNato.zip
 
Russian icons
CatTacticalIconsCMBSRussianNato.zip

As has been said elsewhere by persons other than myself, the kind of reconnaissance requiring specialized vehicles such as armored cars or other light armored or unarmored vehicles has been done before a CM engagement begins. In other words, the general location of the enemy is known (he's on the other side of the map). Now it's time to send in the assault forces.
 
In a way this makes me a little sad. Now that bigger maps are become more feasible, I wonder if it may soon be possible to design scenarios incorporating classical recon. That might be something like send a troop of recon vehicles down a long highway to find out if it is blocked, mined, or defended. Or a squadron could be tasked with guarding a flank; it wouldn't necessarily be expected to repel an attack, but to warn of it and impeded it without sacrificing too much of your own force. And so forth. Probes would become the real thing: the object would not be to gain territory or to destroy the enemy, but to make him reveal himself and in what strength. But for these kinds of scenarios to work, the game's mechanism for determining victory would need to be redeveloped.
 
Michael

This is the third thread I've seen lately asking about recon vehicles, so I'm just going to use the same response
 
"All recon vehicles are challenging to use in Combat Mission because they are intended for operational or grand tactical level reconnaissance, ie. to report to brigade HQ if there's enemy forces in an area the size of a CM map and if they are moving, blocking roads or such. After that they're just poorly armed and armoured vehicles with slightly better sensors than usual and should be used accordingly, ie. with special care."
 
If you have a huge map with large unoccupied areas then dedicated recon vehicles with good sensors may be of actual nominal use. But if not, ignore that they are recon vehicles and just consider their combat capabilities. Also be prepared to leave some of the vehicles in a safe place and use the crews for foot recon if it looks like a trap. Another thing is to think that cavalry's first objective is to determine where the enemy isn't, so don't send them headlong against where you suspect they will be but use them to secure flanks and approach avenues. Just sometimes you don't have that luxury...

Bil,
Your skills demonstrated the New Modern - Black Sea very well.
Yes, any Russian force would withdraw facing such dominating combat power. You stuck in very well facing overwhelming numbers your forces faced.
Nothing better than TWO worthy opponents showing us how to deal the cards dealt... in Black Sea.
Salutes,
Buzz

Well her father did. Sounds like he showed leadership so there is a good chance she had the same values.

The bottom line is we all face choices every day of what we do. Do we choose to make our communities better? True, we don't often control the big picture we live in but we can control what we do. The Shia doctor chose to make his community better, those Sunni gun men chose to make it worse. Regardless of how all the players arrived in that situation they all had agency and they exercised it for good and ill. Those choices are on them. Period.

All of us civilians make those choices too things are just more dramatic during war. So, go forth and use your agency in this world to make it better, where ever you are.

To bring it back down onto the street, a little elaboration on the plight of the Shia woman who apparently started this whole discussion.  I didn't actually relate the entire story. 
 
So, her father was a Shia doctor, who helped people in Baghdad, regardless of their sect or issue.  The Sunni insurgents had presented him with 'get out of town' warnings which he chose to ignore.  They abducted him, drove him around for a bit.  Stopped in the middle of a busy main street and put him out of the car.  They put a revolver in his mouth and pulled the trigger until it was empty.  We showed up about ten minutes later.  She arrived a minute or two after us.  
 
She was hysterical - who wouldn't be?  Her father had just been murdered.  She spoke fluent English, which was a bit unfortunate.  Hysterical behaviour in a foreign language is much easier to remain aloof from.  No one is immune to their emotions when seeing the results of such a killing.  Combat experience encourages keeping a lid on these emotions in order to remain focused on the job.  Deal with the emotion later in a safer environment.  Every member of our patrol felt a degree of compassion for this woman.  It would have been much easier for us to treat it as just another part of the job ("Best job I ever had...") if we could have treated her grief as background noise.  Not possible when she addresses you in your native tongue.  We did what we could to help and console her.  
 
Her remarks to us were all over the map.  Her main accusation was that we had invaded her country, assumed responsibility for its stability and we were doing a piss poor job.  Why were we allowing things like this to happen?  Where was the security that was needed in order to truly rebuild?  I really cannot defend against this; she was correct.  Even the following year when we began the "surge" we only had perhaps 1/3 of the personnel necessary to actually stabilize a place like that with a simmering ethnic hatred beginning to boil over.  We literally needed to have a squad on every street corner, learning the language, knowing the names and faces of everyone who lived there, and knowing who was actually doing what.  Driving around in heavy armored vehicles based out of mega-FOBs specifically designed to insulate us from the (hostile) population was sort of the exact opposite of what was needed.  However, I also have no desire to see the US commit the truly necessary 750,000 or so Soldiers  that were truly needed for US forces to stabilize Iraq.  Had we done so, we would still be there, and our 5k KIA would seem paltry in comparison to how many would have died actually doing the job right.  America didn't create the instability; we just catalyzed it by removing the oppressive regime that was keeping a lid on it.  The problem is the Iraqis themselves, not us.  
 
Once we had respectfully placed her father's remains in a body bag, and loaded him (at my direction) in the back of HMMWV, I asked her what she would like us to do.  At her request, we took him to the local Iraqi hospital.  After some hesitation ('can I likely survive being seen riding in a US HMMWV') she accepted our offer to ride with us. When we finally left her at the hospital, she was thankful for the little we had done for her.  My guys really were a bit miffed that I had created a gory mess that they would have to clean up in the back of the truck.  Their casual bitching about it was part of them trying to cope, to make it seem less tragic than it really was.  
 
In my minds eye, I can still see her eyes flash when she spoke to me, and the way she alternated between impotent rage and overwhelming grief.  I feel for her to this day, and hope that she survived.  If she stayed, and if she survived, I am confidant that she is doing something to help the situation, not further hinder it.  No real basis for this, just a feeling.  

Go ahead and let the AI choose its own forces! I think you will be pretty pleased. I did it a lot during testing and by release I was not seeing any oddities.

The New QB Naming Convention will provide a good description of the type, size, and general characteristics of each map.

This Map Has 3 Objectives.  Players should use this information when considering the type and size of units for their battle.

Many of the maps are done by the terrific CM scen designers and the rest are mine.  But I am responsible for anything that goes wrong with a map. We internally were excited by the number, sure, but more pleased with the quality and advances in AI order design.

For those who haven't noticed, the CMBS QB map folder is full to overflowing. 330 maps, and some pretty spectacular looking maps too. Complete with multiple AI orders, triggers, the whole nine yards. All hail MarkEzra for his work assembling those. I just got done playing a QB on a huge map involving a dam on a river, an overpass highway, a huge railroad bridge and a rock quarry. Great fun to play. 

I had to chuckle. It seems there's going to be some confusion referring to the game as 'BS'. I wonder why they rejected my suggestion of 'CM:Fortress Ukraine'.   

Baneman's description is a good one.
 
Normandy Modules, Common Wealth and Market Garden complete the CMBN time frame arena.
If you are really into CMBN you can't go wrong with the full package.
 
If you want something different, a more open battlefield with less powerful equipment, Fortress Italy & Gustav Line are a very compelling combination. I enjoy playing CMFI/GL after a heavy engagement in the other games.
 
Red Thunder is interesting because you have powerful WWII equipment for both sides than can make some pretty epic battles in open and urban environments. CMRT just looks really cool too.

Understood.
 
You have plenty of great non fictional WWII available. It would be difficult for me to pick one of your candidates Fortress Italy, Gustav Line, Market Garden or Red Thunder. I have them all. I play them all. Having the WWII variety makes for a diversity of gaming enjoyment depending on my mood.
 
Best of luck in your choice.

"... I will move on from Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy to try some of the other releases.
But I don't know if I should go for Fortress Italy, Gustav Line, Market Garden or Red Thunder...."
 
It would be a shame to sidestep the new modern vintage on offer.... Black Seas
 
My prediction is Black Seas (vintage 2015) will be Big, with a Buttery Bouquet, a Baked Brilliance.... Smooth, Supple, not overly Sweet and a Spicy yet Finessed Finish....  

"....the Russian vehicles are overwhelmed.  We are on our way to establishing unchallenged fire superiority across the north side of Hill 347."
 
Unchallenged fire superiority has that ring of authority about it. How quickly the pendulum swings in New Modern
 
Black Sea Rocks!

It is all about the right tool for the job at hand.  Somtimes it is the Stryker sometimes its the Bradley sometimes the M1. Sometimes you are stuck making do with what you've got.